Milk is bad for gout The consumption of milk is recommended from a very early age, thanks to the fact that it provides a range of benefits to the body, aimed at better development and a better immune response. This is why it is very normal to find it in specialized diets, either for the treatment of diseases or for feeding programs.
Gout is a disease that presents a type of arthritis in the patient, with the peculiarity of this it can affect any individual. As we can think, a large part of its symptoms includes intense and sudden pain in different joints of the patient. As a consequence, some dermatological responses such as swelling and redness are also observed.
Like many diseases, gout refers the patient to a specialized dietary regimen, with which they can find a better response from their body during the development and treatment of the disease. Is it bad to consume milk for gout?
It has been found that consumption of skim milk powder can significantly prevent gout episodes. Next, we will go into more detail about milk consumption and gout, to understand how we can take advantage of one of the greatest sources of calcium to deal with this form of arthritis.
Milk is bad for gout
Skim milk and also enriched. Research carried out in New Zealand, at the University of Auckland, was carried out with the purpose of testing the hypothesis that daily intake of skim and powdered milk can act in an inhibitory manner against episodes of gout.
For this, skimmed milk powder was used, but also enriched with glycomacropeptide and milk fat extract (G600). The test group consisted of 120 patients with frequent gout episodes.
These patients had to consume milk daily, for which they would be measured monthly for three months, in order to account for the number of gout attacks they presented during this period of time.
The results showed a clear picture: the frequency of gout attacks was reduced for three months. The consumption of enriched skim milk allowed multiple changes to be observed in the patients, such as a decrease in pain in the now also reduced gout attacks, excretion of uric acid and a better feeling in the joints.
Let us remember that one of the determining factors for gout is excess uric acid in the blood, which causes an inflammatory effect on the joints. Getting the body to reduce the reserves of this complex will work against gout attacks.
This research carried out in 2012 allowed us to corroborate the hypothesis of milk consumption against gout attacks. The intake of enriched milk promotes anti-inflammatory effects in the body, adjusting the inflammatory response of monosodium urate crystals, which are found in the joints.
Gout, although a type of arthritis, is usually characterized by intense episodes of joint pain (acute arthritis). Excess uric acid creates crystals that end up sticking to the joints, causing typical pain. In percentage terms, this affects 2% of the world’s population, which is why it is considered a rare disease.
The consumption of milk is, therefore, not exactly harmful for cases of gout. However, the discussion does not reach this point. It must be understood, now, that you cannot consume any type of milk as a mechanism to combat gout. In fact, There are many foods that are recommended for gout and arthritis, which have a special composition. Let’s review how this applies to the case of milk.
Milk is not bad for gout, but…
The most notable aspect of the case explained above is that it is skim milk, which is enriched with other components. Patients with gout cannot consume any type of milk, since the levels of casein present in these dairy products can act negatively on their health.
It is known that people with arthritis should be careful about consuming dairy products, since inadequate intake could worsen their condition. However, this does not exclude the fact that vitamin D, present in milk, provides great benefits, along with its already known benefit in calcium for bones.
Patients with gout must determine the milk they can consume, since it is not a question of completely eliminating the consumption of dairy products in their diet, as this could also have serious consequences for their health.
Break up uric acid
The key, beyond the consumption of milk, is based on learning to regulate uric acid levels in the body. Let us remember that the consumption of dairy products, as long as they do not have added sugars, will not be a problem at this point. However, all those foods that can exceed the already excessive uric acid present in the body will be harmful to the patient with gout.
It is worth noting that uric acid must not only be regulated through diet, but also through certain medications, therefore, it is important to consult with a specialist for those recipes that are needed to mitigate as much as possible the accentuation of this compound in the joints.
Likewise, consider that all excesses are negative, and that the idea is not to drastically increase the consumption of skim and enriched milk as was observed in the experiment. It is about knowing the limits of the body and the way in which we can contribute positively through food.
Gout is a disease that can seriously compromise a person’s life, especially when it comes to sudden and acute attacks. It is essential to attend to these types of conditions as soon as possible, since they could become a much more dramatic problem for the life of the patient and those around them, whether due to gout or even arthritis.
References: Mayoclinic
Read also: Milk is bad for cholesterol; Milk is bad for gastritis; Milk is bad for the liver
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